It’s easy to be dismissive when it comes to prayer, but prayer is extremely important.  But before we look at why it is so important, let’s look at why we can even do it.  In Matt. 6:9-13, Jesus tells His disciples to pray directly to God(Father).  Jesus is not giving us a prayer to pray, but rather He is giving an explanation of some of the things to pray for(e.g. the kingdom, daily provisions, forgiveness, help with temptation and praise to God).  In John 14:6, Jesus states that no one can come to the Father(God) except through Him(Jesus).  In Heb. 7:25, we see that Jesus(our High Priest) intercedes for us with God(Father).  And He always does this.  Why is He able to do this for us?  Because He died for us(see Spiritual Blessings -1).  This answers the “how” question, or more specifically, how we have the authority to pray to God.

Praying to God(Father) might seem like something that we are so used to that it does not have the impact that it should.  It is important to understand that when we pray to God, we are speaking to the Creator of the universe.  He spoke and it happened.  Just like that.  He said, let there be stars, and there were stars.  And based on what astronomers have been able to deduce, there are a LOT of stars out there.  Stars are huge spheres of hydrogen gas, and God created them by merely speaking them into existence.  On a much smaller scale, He made people(Gen. 1:27), and we are wonderfully made(Ps. 139:14).  The complexity of our bodies continues to astound modern medical science.  And God did that(i. e. made our bodies), just by speaking them into existence.

It is helpful for us to realize how powerful God is, as well as the great expanse of His creation(i.e. the universe).  When we think about how great and powerful He is, it helps us to understand what an incredible blessing it is to be able to pray to Him . . . directly to Him(through Jesus, of course).  Our prayers are addressed to Him(our Father).  Yes, Jesus gives us the authority to do so, and we need to be thankful for that, but we have the opportunity and authority to directly address the Creator of the universe!  Oh, and He listens!

In I John 5:14, John tells us that if we ask anything, He hears us(if we are asking according to His will).  This does not make God into a “genie in the bottle” who will grant all our wishes.  But it does mean that He listens.  He pays attention.  He will even do what we ask, assuming we are asking for the right reasons and our requests are in accordance with His will.  And since we know very little about His will for the future, many of our requests may not be answered as we would want, but that doesn’t mean He isn’t listening or does not care.

In James 5:13-18, James tells people to pray when they are suffering.  Pray when they are sick.  He then uses Elijah as an example of someone just like us(v. 17), and when Elijah prayed, it stopped raining for three and a half years.  Then he prayed again and it rained.  God has done great things as a result of prayer, when it coincided with His will.

In Isa. 65:24, God tells His people that He will answer prayer before they even pray; He will hear(listen) while they are still speaking.  This looks to the immediacy of God’s response, implicit in this is that He is actively listening.  This is not something where He will check His voicemail when He gets around to it.  He is actively paying attention to His people.  What an amazing blessing that is!

The next time you are about to pray, consider Whom you are praying to.  He . . . is . . . awesome!  And by comparison, you are nothing(Isa. 40:6-8; Jam. 4:13-14).  But He still listens.  Why?  Because He loves us and because Jesus gave us the authority to pray directly to His Father.  What an incredible spiritual blessing prayer is.  And we have it . . . because of Jesus.  Let’s not waste it.  Let’s use it.